1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp-supporting unit, a backlight assembly having the lamp-supporting unit, and a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) apparatus having the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a lamp-supporting unit having an improved structure on which a lamp is mounted, a backlight assembly having the lamp-supporting unit, and a direct illumination type LCD apparatus having the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
As information-processing devices have been developed, display apparatuses that interface data processed by the information-processing devices so as to have the data recognizable by a user have also been developed.
An LCD apparatus having a lightweight structure, a small size, a full-colored display, high resolution, etc., has been widely used as the display apparatus. The LCD apparatus converts variations of optical characteristics of a liquid crystal (“LC”) cell into visual variations. Since the LCD apparatus does not emit a light by itself, a backlight assembly is employed in the LCD apparatus. The LCD apparatus displays an image by utilizing a light provided thereto from the backlight assembly.
The backlight assembly is classified as either a direct illumination type or an edge illumination type backlight assembly in accordance with positions of a light source. The direct illumination type backlight assembly includes a light source positioned under an LCD panel. A light emitted from the light source is directly irradiated onto an entire surface of the LCD panel. Thus, since the direct illumination type backlight assembly utilizes more light sources than those of the edge illumination type backlight assembly, the direct illumination type backlight assembly has a higher luminance than that of the edge illumination type backlight assembly.
The direct illumination type LCD apparatus includes an LCD panel displaying an image, and a backlight assembly providing the LCD panel with a light.
The backlight assembly includes at least one lamp emitting the light, a diffusion plate diffusing the light, and a reflection sheet reflecting the light toward the diffusion plate. The lamp, the diffusion plate, and the reflection sheet are received in a container.
The container includes a mold frame and a receiving member combined with the mold frame. The mold frame has a square rimmed shape. A sidewall of the mold frame substantially parallel to a length direction of the lamp is inclined at a predetermined angle.
The mold frame on which the lamp is mounted includes two mold frames. A fixing member securing an end of the lamp is arrayed in the mold frames. Also, the fixing member is fixed to the mold frame using a hook or a screw.
However, the conventional mold frame includes an L-shaped sub-frame and a U-shaped sub-frame combined with the L-shaped sub-frame. Thus, costs for manufacturing a metallic mold and the backlight assembly are increased due to the two sub-frames. Also, a process for fixing the fixing member to the mold frame using the hook or the screw is additionally carried out, thus increasing the time and cost for manufacturing the backlight assembly.